


On the Down Low

by MCUsic_to_my_ears



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Agoraphobia, Anxiety, Bisexual Male Character, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Homosexuality, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Parades, Pride, Protective Bruce Banner, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Transgender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 02:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14864951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCUsic_to_my_ears/pseuds/MCUsic_to_my_ears
Summary: Despite his anxieties, Tony accompanies Bruce to the Pride Parade in New York City.





	On the Down Low

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride my friends!

"And you're sure-"

"Bruce, if we doubt this one more second  I'm going to chicken out," Tony interrupted, his hand tightening in Bruce's. 

"Right." The physicist took a deep breath. "We have three security staff members plus Happy coming with us, so if you want to leave-"

"Just give you the signal, I know. Shit, I know." 

"Alright."

"I'm psyching myself up."

"I know."

"Okay."

They entered the garage. 

"Morning, Happy," Bruce called. The ex-boxer leaned against the first of the two black SUVs. Maria Hill stood to his left, smiling warmly at the pair. 

"Good to see you, Dr. Banner, it's been a while," the security head replied. Bruce shook his head, amused. "And, Tony, might I say, it's very nice to see you again."

"Spotlight effect, Happy," Bruce mumbled under his breath when Tony's fingers clenched his. 

The taller man didn't seem to hear him, or at least didn't understand the statement, because he went in to heartily shake Tony's right hand, clasping his wrist with the effort of the 'congratulatory' gesture, unphased when Tony didn't make any move from Bruce's grasp to reciprocate.

"Boys," Hill interrupted, "Might I suggest getting a move on? Traffic is a bitch today," she put succinctly. 

Bruce swung their intertwined hangs to help release some of Tony's nervous energy. 

"Dr. Banner, we have you riding in the first SUV Mr. Hogan and Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Stark, you will be-" 

"Sorry, but Tony and I will be riding together. I thought I made that very clear in my email," Bruce said sharply, squeezing Tony's fingers. 

"I was aware of this request, but I believe-"

"Ms. Hill, we will be riding together. That's final."

Hill blinked at the normally mild-manner physicist. She surveyed him for a moment, reassessing, then looked over to the man attached to his side--the glassy eyes, the stiff set of his shoulders, the locking of his knees. 

She cleared her throat. "I believe that we be fine," the ex-agent corrected. 

It was like someone let go of the strings holding Tony up all at once. His posture slipped, and he leaned heavily into Bruce. But he never directly protested the initial seating arrangement, which surprised Hill.    
She looped around and knocked on the back door of the first SUV. Derek Taylor, one of Tony's seasoned bodyguards with whom Bruce had spent many an afternoon with, climbed out. 

"Jump in with Pham, we'll be leaving in a few." 

The guard narrowed his brows, but didn't question it, transferring cars with ease. 

"Ready Tones?" Bruce murmured into the engineer's ear. 

Tony tucked his chin into his neck after giving a sharp nod. 

"We can wait a minute if you want to. Or," Bruce rapidly patted his pockets with his left hand. "I have some Xanax, right here, if you-"

Tony mumbled something into his shoulder. 

"What?"

"Highly addictive-"

"It works!"

"Besides, traffic's a bitch, so..."

"Right. Okay. Ms. Hill, we'll see you there." Bruce sent a forced smile her way before guiding Tony into the first SUV. Happy climbed into the driver's seat and Hill followed suit in the second car. Soon they were pulling out of Stark Tower's underground parking garage and into the bright, New York City morning. 

***

"We're right in the middle of the parade route, so the least amount of people will be around us."

Tony nodded. 

"And the cars are just a two blocks away, so we can leave at anytime."

Tony nodded. 

"Should we leave?"

"We haven't seen a float," Tony whispered. 

"It's okay."

Tony shook his head. "I'm fine." Bruce was about to reply, but Tony interrupted. "Bru-uce, I'm fine. Let's just. Be here. For a while. Okay?"

"Okay." Bruce took his eyes off Tony for a moment, catching Happy's gaze. The head of security had changed into jeans and a bisexual pride T-shirt. He was standing a few feet down on the fence line, a bit more concerned at the two scientists than the other security personnel, likely since he was more privy to Tony's personal life than the others. 

Happy looked down at his watch, confirming that the emergency vibrate feature was still functioning. It was.    
Hill gave him a semi-concerned look, her hair pulled back into a ponytail tied with a rainbow ribbon, matching both her tennis shoes and shirt. Blending in wasn't easy at pride. 

Bruce pulled his baseball cap down lower on his face. "The parade tracker app says that it will be here in a couple minutes," he whispered. 

Tony glanced at his watch, which buzzed every second to help steady his breathing.    
They had been out of the Tower for 37 minutes. They had been out of the car for 4. They'd been standing here for 1. 

It wasn't the longest he'd spent outside in preparation for pride, but it was certainly the most claustrophobic Tony had felt. 

He leaned closer to Bruce. "Can. Can Linh come over?" 

The doctor sent him a concerned look, but he pulled out his phone and texted the guard.

A young Vietnamese girl slide up to Tony's right. 

"Everything alright, sir?" she asked, eyes flicking to Bruce, asking for insight. The physicist shrugged. 

Tony peeled his gaze away from the still empty--save for a few semi-drunk parade goers--street. "What? Yes. Yes. Just. Lots of people."

Bruce let out of soft "Oh". 

"Which shouldn't- isn't a problem. Sorry. Didn't mean to-"

"Sir, I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but I wouldn't mind staying here. It's... always been a dream of mine to come to pride," she assured. She tugged at her trans pride crop top with a soft smile on her face. "And to spend it with such a wonderful couple... well, I honestly couldn't think of a better time."

Bruce trapped Tony's left hand between both of his own while his partner thought. Tony fidgeted around a little bit, cleaning his sunglasses, realigning the strings on his blue jacket, checking his pockets for his wallet and phone. 

"I don't want to bother you," he finally mumbled. 

"You won't, sir. Trust me," Pham promised. Bruce sent her a grateful smile as Tony finally nodded. The doctor let go of Tony briefly to shoot a text to Happy to explain why one of his men was out of position. Hill and Taylor simply retriangulated their positions in response. 

A moment later, the first float finally reached their line of sight,  causing a grin to break out on both their faces. Bruce's right hand caught Tony's left, and they propped them up on the fence in front of them, Bruce playing with the ring on Tony's fourth finger, a new addition to both their wardrobes.

**Author's Note:**

> Bruce is gay and Tony is bi. In this semi-AU (a girl can dream that this is canon), Tony developed agoraphobia due to his panic attacks, and so when Bruce asked if they could go to Pride together, he started amping up his talk therapy into exposure therapy! 
> 
> Thanks to my beta, Mxy!


End file.
